Ever Dream
by Incapability
Summary: In the first night after Mab's defeat, Merlin dreams of Ambrosia. In the second, he dreams of Nimue. In the third, there is no love left to dream of ... or so he thinks


**Ever Dream**

The night sky was hiding its face behind a veil of grey, stormy clouds forming the most beautiful and mysterious faces and figures. The wind was caressing the trees, making the leaves and branches whisper stories of secrets and magic.

But magic was gone. It had left this world in the moment of his ultimate triumph.

Merlin shivered. He had thought about her ever since she had disappeared. Somehow, she had given his life a meaning, she had given him something to fight for. Or against. Now, without her, he had nowhere to go, nowhere to hunt her, no aim, no purpose.

When she had left, his dreams had changed. He did no longer see the fights of the future. He now saw the loves of the past. In his first dream, he had seen Ambrosia. She had been standing on an island, coaxing him, but he could never reach her.

In the second night, he had seen Nimue. No, not seen her, for she had been trapped inside a rock, and she had been calling for him, begging him to free her. Again, he could not reach her.

At least tonight, there would be no dreams, for there was no love left to dream of. He would only sleep …

Even in his sleep, he could hear the wind sing, but he could not make out what its song said. It sang with a distant, lonely voice that was coming closer. Closer. Closer yet …

He was surrounded by it, it was hiding inside pearly, shimmering mist, teasing him with its song.

He tried to make out where the wind had hidden its voice, but he could see nothing. He could only hear it speak, more clearly now. It was calling him … _Merlin … Merlin …_

Who is there? He wanted to call, but he could not even whisper. The mist, this swirling, teasing mist, swirling all around him, was now forming a figure …

She was as pale as the moonlight, and as pure, her midnight hair flying in the breeze. Her eyes … they were gems, eternal and beautiful, a frozen fire burning inside them. She wore a gown that was the colour of snow, and yet it was almost grey against her shining form. She was calling him … _Merlin …_ her voice was the wind, the wind roaming through the trees, stroking over the seas and fields, the wind that was everywhere … _Merlin …_

She was as she had always been, and yet she wasn't. This creature looked too pure, too innocent to ever have felt anything like hatred and rage.

_Merlin …_ when she spoke, he could feel the wind caress his face. It felt like a mother's touch …

No! You are gone! He tried to call out to her, but she merely laughed, and it sounded pearly and soft, almost like her sister's laughter.

Poor Merlin …did you not know that this is what we , what my people become when we go? That we become a dream? A dream to be dreamt by poets and storytellers … ever dream remaining …

I will never tell your story! I will not help you to be remembered!

Again she laughed. Why did this divine, this innocent look not leaver her face so that he could hate her?

Oh Merlin … I do not need to be remembered through stories … I will live on through my soul …

Soul! Do not tell me you ever had anything like a soul!

A sadness that was unlike anything he had ever seen on her crept into her eyes.

I once had a soul … long before you were born … but it got hurt … it almost died because mankind had turned away from me … so I let go of it to save it … that was my salvation … my soul has survived … it has become the soul of the country. This part of me will never die … if you look out for it, you shall find it … if you listen, you shall hear it … farewell, dear Merlin …

He wanted to call for her, but already the mist had swallowed her and was now withdrawing.

_Dear Merlin … I told you that you would never forget me … _

The next morning, he remembered nothing of his dream. In fact, he felt as content as he had not felt for years. While he searched for something to eat, he listened to the wind, and finally he could understand its song …

… _never forget …_


End file.
